!uo 


EXTRA.  GTS 


PROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF  THE 


€foenig-C|iro  Annual  Contention 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 


DIOCESE  OF  LOUISIANA, 


CONTAINING   AX  EXTRACT  FROM  THE 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  RT.  REV.  LEONID  AS  POLK,  D.  D., 


Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH, 


WITH  THE   RESOLUTIONS  THEREUPON  ADOPTED. 


NEW  ORLEANS 


PRINTED    AT    THE    BULLETIN   BOOK   AND    JOB    OFFICE. 


18  6  1. 


EXTRACTS 


FROM  THE  JOURNAL  OF  THE 


Cfoettfg-€|kfo  Annual  Cwnixentton 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 


DIOCESE  OF  LOUISIANA, 


rnNTAl.VIXG   AN    EXTRACT   FROM   THE 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  RT.  REV.  LEONIDAS  POLK,  D.  V., 

Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 


ALSO,   THE 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  THE  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

WITH   THE    RESOLUTIONS   THEREUPON"  ADOPTED. 


NEW  ORLEANS: 

PRINTED    AT    THE    BULLETIN    BOOK    AND    JOB    OFFICE, 
18    6    1. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/extractsfromjourOOepis 


fetract  from  giaftop  a§a\Kz  %&&\m. 


On  the  26th  of  January,  the  State  of  Louisiana,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  her  indefeasible  right,  severed  her  connection  with  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  resumed  the  powers  of 
which  she  had  divested  herself,  and  became  a  separate  and  In- 
dependent Sovereignty.  This  act  carried  with  it  the  political 
allegiance  of  her  citizens.  Their  Supreme  Government  ceased 
to  be  that  of  the  United  States,  and  became  that  of  the  State 
of  Louisiana,  to  which  alone  they  owed  a  paramount  fealty, 
and  all  the  duties  growing  out  of  such  a  relationship.  This 
change  of  allegiance,  Churchmen  shared  in  common  with 
others,  and  it  became  their  duty  promptly  to  demonstrate  their 
recognition  of  that  change,  in  the  forms  in  which  the  Founder 
of  our  Holy  Religion  required  his  followers  to  recognize  de 
facto  Governments.  In  the  affair  of  the  Tribute  Money,  he  lays 
down  the  doctrine  that  such  Governments  have  a  right  to  claim 
from  their  citizens  or  subjects  the  support  necessary  for  their 
effective  maintenance,  a  right  founded  on  the  fact  that  the 
State,  as  well  as  the  Church,  is  a  Divine  Institution,  under 
whatever  form  of  organization  it  may  be  presented.  In  the 
administration  of  Divine  Providence,  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe 
casteth  down  one  and  putteth  up  another,  choosing  for  him- 
self the  instruments  best  adapted  to  effect  his  ends.  So  that, 
whether  it  be  Sanhedrim*  or  Caesar,  "  the  Powers  that  be  are 
ordained  of  God."  They  are  to  be  supported,  not  only  with 
material  aid  and  personal  services,  but  by  supplications"  and 
prayer.     Hence  arises  the  duty  of  the  Church,  on  the  occurrence 


4  EXTRACT    FROM    BISHOP    POLK's    ADDRESS. 

of  any  established  change  of  Government,  to  alter  her  formu- 
laries, so  as  to  make  them  conform  to  the  new  condition  of  things. 
It  was  clear,  therefore,  in  the  circumstances  in  which  we  were 
placed,  that  an  alteration  in  the  Services  of  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  after  the  separation  of  Louisiana  from  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  was  indispensable.  It  was  an  alteration 
forced  by  the  necessity  of  obedience  to  the  Law  of  Christ  Him- 
self. This  was  felt  by  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  the  Diocese  gen- 
erally, notless  than  by  myself.  But  under  the  Constitution  and 
Canons  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States, 
there  existed  no  authority  accessible  to  us  competent  to  meet  the 
emergency.  Section  14,  Canon  13,  Title  I,  it  is  true,  gives 
to  the  Bishop  of  each  Diocese  authority  "  to  compose  forms  of 
prayer,  as  the  case  may  require,  for  extraordinary  occasions;" 
and  under  its  provisions  I  set  forth  for  the  National  Fast  the 
form  appended  to  my  Pastoral  Letter  of  28th  December.  The 
case  now  presented  is  altogether  different.  It  called  for  an 
alteration  in  the  matter  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
itself,  a  prerogative  withheld  from  the  Bishops,  because  ex- 
pressly surrendered  by  them  and  their  Diocesan  Conventions, 
at  the  time  they  adopted  the  Constitution.  This  power  is 
vested  in  the  General  Convention  alone.  In  the  8th  Article  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  National  Church,  it  is  provided  that 
"  no  alteration  or  addition  shall  be  made  in  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer,  unless  the  same  shall  be  proposed  in  one  General 
Convention,  and,  by  a  resolve  thereof,  made  known  to  the  Con- 
vention of  every  Diocese,  and  adopted  at  the  subsequent  Gen- 
eral Convention ."  The  delay  involved  in  an  effort  to  comply 
with  this  provision,  even  supposing,  when  it  was  allowed,  it 
would  have  met  the  case,  was  manifestly  forbidden  by  the 
pressing  nature  of  the  emergency.  What,  then,  was  to  be 
done  ?  A  conflict  now  arose  between  the  duty  we,  as  a  Dio- 
cese, owed  to  the  provisions  of  a  Constitution  which  bound  us 
to  pray  for  the  Rulers  of  one  Government,  and  the  duty  we 
owed  to  the  Law  of  Christ  Himself,  which  required  us  to  pray 
for  those  of  another.  In  such  a  case,  the  latter  must,  of  ne- 
cessity, prevail,  though  it  be  at  the  expense  of  the  overthrow  of 


Hbt 
NcU 


EXTRACT    FROM    BISHOP    POLK'S    ADDRESS.  0 

the  Constitution  whose  provisions  we  should  be  forced  thus  de- 
liberately to  repudiate.  It  has  prevailed.  And  although  we 
have  not  as  a  Diocese,  in  our  assembled  capacity,  pronounced 
upon  and  avowed  this  repudiation,  yet  we  have  done  so  in 
effect.  My  view  of  the  duties  of  my  office,  under  those  cir- 
cumstances, required  me  to  address  to  }tou  my  Pastoral  Letter 
of  the  30th  January,  setting'  forth  and  directing-  certain  altera- 
tions in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer;  and  your  views  of  the 
duties  of  yours,  authorized  you  to  accept  and  use  those  altera- 
tions in  the  public  services  of  the  Church.  Of  the  propriety 
and  duty  of  the  course  we  have  pursued  in  this  matter,  not- 
withstanding the  effect  of  our  action  on  our  relations  under 
the  Constitution  to  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  I  have 
not  a  doubt,  nor  can  the  reasoning-  which  has  led  us  to 
our  present  position  be  successfully  controverted. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  History  of  the  Church  in  Louisiana, 
when  it  was  not  under  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
and  when  there  was  no  Constitutional  Union  existing'  between 
it  and  the  Dioceses  in  the  United  States.  The  oth  Article  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States,  provides  for  the  admission  of  Dioceses  not  in 
Union,  on  their  agreeing-  to  accede  to  that  instrument,  and  the 
Diocese  of  Louisiana  having  embodied  the  required  stipula- 
tion, in  the  1st  Article  of  her  Constitution,  was  admitted  on 
application. 

In  accepting  the  constitutional  connexion  which  was  thus 
established,  our  Diocese  did  not  intend  to  impuse  upon  herself 
impossible  obligations,  which  in  any  future  contingency 
would  conflict  with  her  duties  to  Christ,  There  are  duties 
and  rights  which,  in  the  case  of  Communities  as  of  indi- 
vidual Christians,  are  inalienable,  and  which,  in  the  nature 
of  things,  must  always  be  reserved.  In  the  case  under  con- 
sideration, the  duty  we  have  performed  and  the  right  to 
perform  it,  are  of  that  character  ;  and  to  discharge  the  former, 
we  have  been  obliged  to  resume  the  latter.  And  thus  having 
the  exercise  of  our  original  powers  remitted  lis,  we  have  been 


6  EXTRACT    FROM    BISHOP    POLK'S    ADDRESS. 

forced,  whether  we  would  or  not,  into  the  position  of  Diocesan 
Independence. 

It  will  be  perceived,  then,  that  our  ecclesiastical  position 
results  from  the  political  action  of  the  State  of  Louisiana  in 
separating  herself  from  the  Federal  Government  of  the  United 
States;  and  from  the  effect  of  that  action  on  the  provisions  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
United  States.  Not  that  it  has  been  accomplished  by  any  act 
of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  in  an  attempt  to  exercise  direct 
civil  control  over  the  political  or  ecclesiastical  relations  of  the 
Church.  To  such  influences  the  Church  in  this  country  is  hap- 
pily in  no  wise  subject. 

But  while  the  Church  is  entirely  free  from  interference  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  she  is  nevertheless  not  exempt  from  the 
consequences  of  the  action  of  the  State  on  her  present  attitude 
in  Louisiana.  She  assumes  what  her  duty  to  her  Lord  requires 
her  to  assume,  that,  though  she  be  compelled  to  set  aside  her  ob- 
ligations to  her  Ecclesiastical  Constitution  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  she  must  follow  her  Nationality. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  a  written  Constitution,  such  as 
that  which  binds  the  Dioceses  of  the  United  States  together,  is 
a  novelty  in  the  Church,  no  other  instance  of  the  kind  being 
known  to  her  history.  It  was  adopted  in  imitation  of  the  action 
of  the  States  within  whose  boundaries  our  Dioceses  lay.  It  was 
a  measure  of  expediency,  and  for  all  the  purposes  it  was  compe- 
tent to  serve,  a  wise  one.  But  it  was  not  a  necessary  condition  of 
the  Church's  Unity.  It  served  the  purpose  of  binding  the- 
Diocescs  in  a  Union  of  amity,  and  promoted  their  efficiency  as 
propagandist  of  the  Faith  on  this  continent  and  elsewhere.  It 
thus  accomplished  a  holy  mission.  And  while  we  with  hearts 
filled  with  sorrow  lament  the  uprising  of  the  influences  which 
have  checked  it  in  its  blessed  work,  we  yet  cannot  allow  that 
its  presence  or  its  absence  is  material  to  the  Unity  of  the 
Church.  The  destruction  of  this  constitutional  bond,  while  it 
may  be  lamented,  carries  not  with  it  the  destruction  of  the 
Oneness  of  the  Body  of  Christ.  The  elements  of  which  that  con 
sists  arc  of  a  higher  and  more  enduring  nature. 


EXTRACT    FROM    BISHOP    POLK'S    ADDRESS.  1 

Of  the  support  we  shall  find  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
Universal  in  its  first  and  present  ages  for  the  action  of  our 
Diocese,  in  accepting  and  maintaining,  if  need  be,  an  inde- 
pendent position,  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  speak.  The  nor- 
mal condition  of  the  Dioceses  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  that  of 
separate  Independence.  A  departure  from  that  condition  has 
ever  been  the  fruit  of  expediency  only. 

Under  the  promptings  of  this  expediency,  I  have,  as  the 
Senior  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  in  the  Confederate  States,  in 
conjunction  with  the  Bishop  of  Georgia,  the  next  in  seniority, 
ventured  to  address  a  Circular  Letter  to  our  brother  Bishops 
in  the  Confederate  States  to  be  by  them  laid  before  their  res- 
pective Conventions,  inviting  them  to  unite  in  a  Convention  to 
be  held  in  Montgomery,  Alabama,  on  the  3d  of  July  next;  the 
Convention,  when  held,  to  be  composed  of  the  Bishops  of  the 
several  Dioceses  in  these  States,  and  of  three  Clerical  and 
three  Lay  Delegates.  The  object  of  this  Convention  is  to 
consult  upon  such  matters  of  interest  to  the  Church  as  have 
arisen  out  of  the  changes  in  our  civil  affairs,  with  the  view 
of  securing  uniformity  and  harmony  of  action. 

I  have  heard  from  several  of  the  Dioceses,  and  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  the  measure  will  meet  with  general  favor. 
A  letter  just  received  b}7  me  from  the  Bishop  of  Texas  informs 
me  that  his  Diocese,  at  its  late  Convention  accepted  the 
invitation  and  elected  the  requisite  Delegates. 

I  have  now  respectfully  to  submit  to  you,  my  brethren,  the 
proposal  to  unite  on  this  measure.  It  cannot  but  be  regarded 
as  one  of  prudence  and  wisdom.  And  I  humbly  trust  it  may 
lead  to  such  action  as  may  secure  to  us  all  the  freedom  neces- 
sary to  Diocesan  Efficiency  and  all  the  Union  which  is  de- 
manded for  the  wisest  application  of  our  energies  and 
resources. 


^jpmfe  to  t\\t  Siskp's  %&&tm. 


CIRCULAR    OF    DECEMBER    29,    1860. 

The  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  are  requested  to  use 
the  following  Prayer,  on  the  day  appointed  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  as  a  day  of  fasting-,  humiliation  and  prayer; 
and  at  such  other  times  as  may  seem  advisable  during  the 
existing  emergency. 

LEONIDAS  POLK, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 
New  Orleans,  Dee.  29,  1800. 


P  R  A  Y  E  11 . 

Oli  Almighty  God,  the  Fountain  of  all  wisdom,  and  the  Helper 
of  all  who  call  upon  Thee:  We,  thy  unworthy  servants,  under 
a  deep  sense  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  by  which  we  are 
now  surrounded,  turn  our  hearts  to  Thee  in  earnest  supplication 
and  prayer.  We  humble  ourselves  before  Thee  ;  we  confess 
that  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals,  we  have  grievously 
offended  Thee;  and  that  our  sins  have  justly  provoked  thy 
wrath  and  indignation  against  us.  Peal  not  with  us,  Oh  Lord, 
according  to  our  iniquities,  but  according  to  thy  great  and 
tender  mercies,  and  forgive  us  all  that  is  past.  Turn  thine 
anger  from  us,  and  visit  us  not  with  those  evils  we  most  justly 
have  deserved.  Guide  and  direct  us  in  all  our  consultations  ; 
save  us  from  all  ignorance,  error,  pride  and  prejudice;  and  if 
it  please  thee,  compose  and  heal  the  divisions  which  disturb 
us.  Or  else,  if  in  thy  good  providence  it  be  otherwise  ap- 
pointed, grant,  we  beseech  Thee,  that  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
moderation   may  preside    over   our    councils,    that    the    just 


APPENDIX   TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS.  9 

rights  of  all  may  be  maintained  and  accorded,  and  the  blessings 
of  peace  preserved  to  ns  and  our  children  throughout  all  genera- 
tions. All  which  we  ask  through  the  merits  and  mediation  of 
our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. — Amen. 


PASTOEAL  LETTER  OF  JANUARY  30,  1861. 

To  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal   Church  in 
the  Diocese  of  Louisiana: 

My  Beloved  Brethren — The  State  of  Louisiana  having,  by  a 
formal  ordinance,  through  her  Delegates  in  Convention  assem- 
bled, withdrawn  herself  from  all  further  connection  with  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  constituted  herself  a  separate 
Sovereignty,  has,  by  that  act,  removed  our  Diocese  from  within 
the  pale  of  "  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States."  We  have,  therefore,  an  Independent  Diocesan  exist- 
ence. 

Of  the  circumstances  which  have  occasioned  this  act,  it  may 
not  be  necessary  now  to  speak.  They  are  familiar  to  you  all. 
It  is,  however,  our  happiness  to  know  that  in  canvassing  the 
sum  of  the  political  grievances  of  which  we  have  complained, 
we  find  no  contribution  made  to  it  by  brethren  of  our  own 
household.  Our  Church  in  the  non-slaveholding  States,  as 
everywhere,  has  been  loyal  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 
Her  sound  conservative  teaching  and  her  well-ordered  organi- 
zation, have  held  her  steadily  to  her  proper  work,  and  she  has 
confined  herself  simply  to  preaching  and  teaching  the  Gospel 
of  Christ.  Surrounded  by  a  strong  pressure  on  every  side,  she 
has  successfully  resisted  its  power,  and  has  refused  to  lend  the 
aid  of  her  Conventions,  her  pulpits,  and  her  presses  to  the  rad- 
ical and  unscriptural  propagandism  which  has  so  degraded 
Christianity,  and  plunged  our  country  into  its  unhappy  con- 
dition. 

In  withdrawing  ourselves,  therefore,  from  all  political  con- 
nection with  the  Umion  to  which  our  brethren  belong,  we  do  so 
with  hearts  filled  with  sorrow  at  the  prospect  of  its  forcing  a 
termination  of  our  ecclesiastical  connection  with  them  also, 
and  that  we  shall  be  separated  from  those,  whose  intelligence, 

2 


10  APPENDIX   TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS. 

patriotism,  christian  integrity  and  piety,  we  have  long-  known, 
and  for  whom  we  entertain  sincere  respect  and  affection.  Un- 
fortunately, the  class  they  represent  was  numerically  too  small 
to  control  their  section.  They  have  been  overborne,  and 
silenced,  and  a  different  description  of  mind  and  character  is 
in  the  ascendant.  The  principles  and  purposes  of  this  party 
have  long  been  the  subject  of  careful  observation  by  the  people 
of  the  Southern  States,  and  they  have  watched  its  rise  and 
progress  with  anxious  solicitude.  They  thought  they  saw  in 
it,  the  seeds  of  all  the  evil  from  which  our  country  is  now  suf- 
fering, and  have  not  failed  to  employ  all  the  resources  at  their 
command  to  avert  it.  Their  efforts  have  been  fruitless,  and 
they  have  seen  no  way  of  escape  from  the  consequences  to 
themselves  and  their  posterity,  other  than  that  they  have  taken. 
Of  the  justice  of  our  cause,  we  have  no  doubt.  Of  the  wis- 
dom of  the  measures  wc  have  adopted  to  maintain  it,  we  may 
judge  from  the  character  of  the  men  who  are  engaged  in  sup- 
porting them.  With  here  and  there  an  exception,  they  repre- 
sent the  intelligence,  the  character,  and  the  wealth  of  the 
State.  We  have  taken  our  stand  we  humbly  trust,  in  the  fear 
of  God,  and  under  a  sense  of  the  duty  we  owe  to  mankind. 

Our  separation  from  our  brethren  of  "  The  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  United  States  "  has  been  effected,  because 
we  must  follow  our  Nationality.  Not  because  there  has  been 
any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  Christian  Doctrine  or  Catholic 
usage.  Upon  these  points  wc  are  still  one.  With  us,  it  is  a 
separation,  not  division,  certainly  not  alienation.  And  there  is 
no  reason  why,  if  we  should  find  the  union  of  our  Dioceses 
under  one  National  Church  impracticable,  we  should  cease  to 
feel  for  each  other  the  respect  and  regard  with  which  purity  of 
manners,  high  principle,  and  a  manly  devotion  to  truth,  never 
fail  to  inspire  generous  minds.  Our  relations  to  each  other 
hereafter  will  be  the  relations  wc  both  now  hold  to  the  men  of 
our  Mother  Church  of  England. 

But  the  time  has  not  arrived  for  entering  fully  into  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  questions  suggested  by  this  occasion,  and  I  have 
so  far  remarked  upon  them,  because  some  notice  of  our  rela- 
tions to  the  National  Church  from  which  we  have  separated, 


APPENDIX    TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS.  11 

seemed  called  for  by  the  event,  and  because  of  the  necessity 
that  event  creates  for  certain  alterations  in  the  services  of  our 
Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

In  pursuance  of  this  necessity,  and  under  the  authority  of 
my  office,  I  appoint,  for  the  present,  the  following  changes,  and 
request  my  brethren  of  the  Clergy  to  observe  them  on  all  oc- 
casions of  public  worship. 

In  the  prayer  for  those  in  Civil  Authority,  for  the  words  '"the 
President  of  the  United  States,"  use  the  words  "  Governor  of 
this  State." 

In  the  prayer  for  Congress,  for  the  words,  "  the  people  of 
these  United  States  in  general,  and  especially  for  their  Senate 
and  Representatives  in  Congress  assembled,"  substitute  the 
words,  "  the  people  of  this  State  in  general,  and  especially  for 
their  Legislature  now  in  session." 

I  also  appoint  the  following  prayer  to  be  used  during  the 
session  of  the  Convention  of  this  State,  and  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Convention  to  be  composed  of  such  other  States 
as  have  withdrawn  from  the  late  Federal  Union,  and  propose 
to  join  Louisiana  in  the  formation  of  a  separate  Government. 

I  remain,  very  truly,  your  obedient  servant  in  Christ, 

LEONID  AS  POLK, 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal   Church 

in  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 

New  Orleans,  January  30th.  1861. 


A  PRATER,  TO  BE  USED  DURING  THE  SESSION  OF  CONVENTION. 

Almighty  God,  the  Sovereign  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  whose 
never-failing  providence  ordereth  all  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  :  We,  thy  unworthy  servants,  commend  to  thy  special 
protection  the  Convention  of  this  State,*  now  in  session.  Im- 
press them  with  a  deep  sense  of  the  responsibility  with  which 
they  are  charged.  Grant  unto  them  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and 
moderation,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  a  sound  mind,  and 

*  Should  the  Convention  of  those  States  which  have  withdrawn  from  the  Union  he  in  ses- 
sion at  the  same  time,  introduce  here  the  words,  "  and  the  Convention  of  Southern  States.'' 
If  either  Convention  should  adjourn,  the  other  being  in  session,  the  language  used  will  be 
altered  accordingly. 


12  APPENDIX    TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS. 

fill  them,  0  Lord,  with  the  spirit  of  thy  holy  fear.  Preserve 
them  from  the  delusions  of  pride  and  vainglory.  Deliver  them 
from  the  temptation  to  aim  at  other  ends  than  those  which  pro- 
mote thy  glory  and  the  best  interests  of  their  country.  Save 
them  from  the  fear  or  favor  of  men.  Make  plain  their  way  be- 
fore them,  and  strengthen  their  hearts,  that  they  may  pursue  it 
with  firmness,  even  to  the  end.  And  grant,  0  Lord,  that 
through  their  labors,  under  the  guidance  of  thy  Good  Spirit, 
all  things  may  be  so  settled,  that  we  may  be  protected  and  de- 
fended from  all  injustice  ;  that  our  rights  may  be  amply  se- 
cured ;  and  that  the  course  of  this  world  may  be  so  peaceably 
ordered,  that  we  may  joyfully  serve  Thee  in  all  Godly  quiet- 
ness. All  of  which  we  ask  through  the  merits  and  mediation 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


CIRCULAR  OF  FEBRUARY  20,  1861. 

To  the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  : 

The  progress  of  affairs  makes  it  expedient  to  direct  further 
changes  in  the  public  services  of  the  Church. 

In  the  Prayer  for  those  in  civil  authority,  for  the  words 
•'  the  President  of  the  United  States,"  substitute  the  words 
"  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States." 

In  the  special  prayer  set  forth  in  my  letter  of  the  30th  ult., 
for  the  words  "  and  the  Convention  of  Southern  States,"  sub- 
stitute the  words  "and  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate 
states. 

The  prayer  for  the  Legislature,  as  already  indicated,  will 
be  continued  during  its  sessions. 

I  remain  very  truly,  your  servant  in  Christ, 

LEONIDAS  POLK, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 
New  Orleans,  February  20,  1861. 


PASTORAL    LETTER    OF    MARCH    28,    1861. 

To  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
the  Diocese  of  Louisiana: 

Brethren  of  the  Clergy  and  Laity — I  have  been  informed 


.APPENDIX    TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS.  13 

that,  since  the  publication  of  my  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  30th 
January,  some  embarrassment  has  arisen  in  certain  minds,  as 
to  the  disposition  of  such  funds  as  have  been  usually  raised 
for  Foreign  and  Domestic  Missions. 

The  object  of  that  Letter  was  to  declare  the  theoretical  status 
of  our  Diocese,  consequent  upon  the  change  of  our  Nationality, 
by  the   separation  of  Louisiana  from   the   United   States   of 
America,  and  to  submit  that  status  as  my  authority,  in  the  face 
of  my  "Promise  of  Conformity"  "  to  the  Discipline  and  Wor- 
ship of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America,"  for  directing  such  changes  in  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  as  a  paramount  expediency  and  the  law  of  Christ 
Himself,    in   such   a   case   demanded.      It   concluded  nothing 
beyond.     It,  nevertheless,  looked  farther.     It  contemplated  the 
merging  of  our  State  Nationality,  perfect  and  complete  in  itself, 
into  that  of  a  Confederation,  "  to  be  composed  of  such  other 
States  as  have  withdrawn  from  the  late  Federal  Union,"  and  so, 
our  Diocese  into  a  Union  with  Dioceses  in  these  States,  under  a 
common  Constitution.     Nay,  more  ;  it  did  not  undertake  to 
decide  whether  a  Union  of  the  Dioceses  within  the   seceded 
States  with  those  in  the  United  States,  from  which  they  were 
thus  separated,  would,  under   any  form,  be    "impracticable." 
It  only  indicated  the  relations  which  would  subsist  between 
them  in  case  such  a  union  should  not  be  found  feasible.     It 
took  the  ground  that,  from  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the  Constitution  and  Canons  of  the 
"  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  Lmited  States  of  America," 
and  from  the  necessities  of  the  case,  a  separation  of  the  Dioce- 
ses in  the  seceding  States  was  forced  from  the  Dioceses  of  the 
United    States.     It    drew    a   distinction    between    Union   in 
Legislation,  whether  Constitutional  or  Canonical,   and  Unity, 
in  Christian  Doctrine  and  Catholic  usage.     The  former  is  na- 
tional, and,  therefore,  local,  and  is  subject  properly  to  such 
changes  as  the  law  of  expediency  or  of  necessity  may  demand. 
The  latter  is  universal,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  all  changes 
in  political  government,  being  that  in  which  consists  the  es- 
sence of  the  Oneness  of  the  Body  of  Christ. 

A  change  in  Church  Union,  therefore,  does  not  necessarily 


14  APPENDIX    TO    THE    BISHOP'S    ADDRESS. 

involve  a  breach  of  Church  Unity.  "The  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  hath  made  us  free  "  may  allow  us,  without  offence,  to 
accept  a  status  which  necessity,  not  to  say  the  Providence  of 
God,  has  forced  upon  us,  provided  the  doctrine  of  his  Church 
and  the  order  of  its  administrations  in  all  of  those  things 
which  are  vital,  be  left  unimpaired. 

The  Confederation  of  these  States,  which,  at  the  date  of 
that  Letter,  was  a  foreshadowed  event,  has  now  become  a 
reality.  The  organization  of  the  new  Government  has  been 
completed,  and  a  permanent  Constitution  adopted.  Time  has 
not  allowed  us,  as  yet,  opportunity  to  consult  with  our  sister 
Dioceses  as  to  the  course  proper  to  be  pursued,  either  with 
reference  to  a  separate  organization,  or  as  to  what  relations  it 
may  be  practicable  to  establish  with  our  sister  Dioceses  in  the 
United  States. 

I  cannot  doubt,  however,  that  some  plan  will  be  adopted  by 
which  the  Dioceses  of  the  Confederate  States  will  be  brought 
into  a  practical  union,  and  I  do  not  now  see  why  some  basis  of 
connection  may  not  be  agreed  upon,  by  which  our  respective 
organizations,  North  and  South,  while  left  free  in  all  those  re- 
spects in  which  freedom  is  expedient,  may  continue  to  act 
together  in  such  things  as  are  above  the  merely  local,  and  in 
which  greater  efficiency  would  result  from  a  union  of  our 
resources  and  energies. 

These  details,  however,  must  be  left  to  the  developments  of 
the  future.  In  the  mean  season,  as  our  confidence,  in  its  largest 
measure,  in  the  Christian  integrity,  zeal,  and  judiciousness  of 
our  brethren  who  have  charge  of  the  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Missions  of  the  Church  is  undiminished,  I  recommend  that 
such  funds  as  may  have  been,  or  may  hereafter  be,  collected 
for  those  objects,  be  sent  forward  as  heretofore.  Such  changes 
as  may  be  expedient  will  be  made,  as  events  progress,  and  as 
expediency  may  dictate. 

I  remain,  very  truly  your  obedient  servant,  in  Christ, 

LEONIDAS  POLK, 

Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcojml  Church 
in  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana. 
New  Orleans,  March  28th,  1861. 


detracts  from  tfe  Journal  of  (foitwntion. 


GRACE  CHURCH,  ST.  FRAXCISYILLE,  \ 
May  1st,  1861.  i 


The  Bishop  appointed  the  following 

COMMITTEE   ON"   THE   STATE   OP   THE   CHUECH. 

Rev.  C.  S.  Hedges,  D.  D.,  Hox.  Geo.  S.  Guiox, 

Rev.  W.  T.  Leacock,  D.  D.,  Ex.  Gov.  Henry  Johxsox, 

Rev.  D.  S.  Lewis,  D.  D.,  Hox.  Alex.  Montgomery, 

Rev.  Johx  Fulton,  W.  J.  Lyle,  M.  D, 


GRACE,  CHURCH,  May  2,  1861. 

By  request  of  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Hedges,  D.  D.,  Chairman  of  Com- 
mittee, the  Rev.  John  Fulton,  from  the  Committee  on  the  State 
of  the  Church,  presented  the  following 

REPORT. 

The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church  beg  respectfully 
to  report :  That  there  is  great  cause  for  gratitude  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  continued  prosperity  of  the  Church  in  this  Diocese. 
The  large  number  of  new  Congregations  admitted  into  Union 
with  the  present  Convention,  and  the  number  of  Confirmations, 
greater  by  one-third   than   any  previous  year,  is  an   evident 


16  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION. 

proof  that  the  hand  of  God  is  with  us,  and  that  the  cause  of 
our  Zion  is  prospering  within  our  borders, 

But  the  shortness  of  the  time  allowed,  and  the  importance 
of  the  matters  falling  under  their  consideration,  compel  the 
Committee  to  dismiss  with  these  remarks  the  subjects  com- 
monly embraced  in  the  Eeport  they  are  required  to  make,  and 
which,  in  general,  relate  exclusively  to  the  internal  operations 
of  the  Church.  The  state  of  the  Church  implies  as  well  the  state 
of  her  relations  to  the  Church  at  large,  as  the  condition  of  her 
ordinary  operations.  Therefore,  the  Committee  feel  themselves 
obliged  to  lay  formally  before  Convention  what  they  conceive 
to  be  our  true  relation  to  the  whole  body  of  Christ's  Church 
Catholic,  and  particularly  to  that  Branch  of  it  to  which  we 
lately  belonged — the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America; — a  duty  which  is  forced  upon  us  by  the  fact 
that  Louisiana  has  within  the  last  year  separated  from  the 
Nationality  of  which  she  previously  formed  a  part,  and  joined 
with  other  Sovereign  States  in  forming  a  new  Nation,  to  which 
she  and  we,  her  citizens,  to-day  owe  our  allegiance.  The 
simple  question  which  we  have  to  meet  is,  whether  any  change 
in  our  relations,  as  a  Church,  to  the  Church  in  the  United 
States,  is,  or  of  right  ought  to  be,  involved  in  the  change  of 
National  relations  which  has  taken  place.  In  answering  this 
question,  the  Committee  asks  to  be  indulged  in  stating  briefly 
the  reasons  which  have  prevailed  in  bringing  them  to  the  con- 
clusion they  feel  bound  to  lay  before  Convention.  A  brief, 
synoptical  form  will  probably  be  found  the  best,  as  its  de- 
ficiencies in  mere  detail  can  readily  be  supplied  by  the  learn- 
ing of  the  members  of  Convention. 

First,  then,  The  Diocese  of  Louisiana,  like  every  other  Dio- 
cese, is  an  integral  portion  of  the  One  Catholic  and  Apostolic 
Church,  in  the  Unity  of  which  she  cannot  cease  to  be  embraced, 
but  by  lapsing  into  heresy  or  schism  ;  for  the  Unity  of  the 
Church  Catholic  is  Unity  in  true  Faith  and  Apostolic  Order. 
Holding  the  Catholic  faith,  and  having  an  Apostolic  Ministry, 
rightly  and  duly  administering  Christ's  Holy  Sacraments,  this 
Diocese  possesses  all  that  is  essential  to  her  being  as  a  true  and 


EXTRACTS    FROM   THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION.  IT 

valid  member  of  the  One  Church  Catholic  and  Apostolic.  With 
these  she  would  have  been  truly  in  the  Unity  of  the  Church, 
though  she  had  never  been  conjoined  with  an}7  other  Dioceses 
in  a  Union  such  as  that  which  forms  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  ;  and  having  these, 
though  in  the  matter  of  her  government,  she  should,  by  cir- 
cumstances be  dissevered  for  a  time  from  every  other  Diocese, 
her  Catholicity  must  still  be  perfect,  and  the  Church's  Unity 
in  her  regard  unbroken.  Acknowledging  "  One  Lord,  One 
Faith,  One  Baptism,"  with  the  Universal  Church,  there  is  be- 
tween her  and  all  other  Churches  "  Unity  of  Spirit"  in  the 
Apostolic  "  Bond  of  Peace."  This  Unity  no  mere  political  or 
National  disturbances  or  revolutions  can  destroy,  and  this  Bond 
cannot  be  impaired  by  any  changes  among  States  or  Nations. 

2.  But  Unions  among  Churches  are  altogether  different 
from  the  Unity  of  the  Church.  The  Unity  of  the  Church  is 
unity  in  believing  and  doing  all  that  God  has  taught,  and 
therefore  as  a  matter  of  Divine  precept,  is  eternal  in  its  obliga- 
tion, while  Unions  of  Churches  are  voluntary  combinations  for 
purposes  of  practical  expediency,  and  therefore  may  be 
changed  whenever  sound  expediency  requires  that  they  should 
be  dissolved. 

3.  And  it  does  not  appear  that  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles, 
or  for  some  time  afterwards,  any  local  combinations  between 
Dioceses  were  formed.  It  does  not  appear  that  under  Apos- 
tolic direction,  Ephesus,  with  its  Bishop  Timothy,  or  Crete, 
with  its  Bishop  Titus,  were  formally  conjoined  with  any  other 
Dioceses.  On  the  contrary,  it  appears  from  the  tenor  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  the  testimony  of  ancient  authors,  that  every 
Diocese  was  originally  independent  of  every  other. 

4.',  When  for  reasons  of  expediency  unions  among  Dioceses 
were  entered  into,  it  was  by  free  consent  among  the  parties  to 
them.  Considerations  of  convenience  required  them  to  be 
limited  in  their  extent,  and  at  first  of  choice,  afterwards  by  the 
decrees  of  Councils,  they  were  made  coextensive  with  the  divi- 
sions of  the  emph'e  which  had  been  established  by  the  Civil 
Power.  In  every  Province  the  Senior  Bishop,  or  the  Senior 
3 


18  EXTRACTS    FROM   THE    JOURNAL    OP    CONVENTION". 

Church  was  allowed  a  certain  precedence  over  the  others,  and 
out  of  this  grew  first  the  MetropoliticaL  and  afterwards  the 
Patriarchal  arrangements  of  the  Church. 

5.  At  the  disruption  of  the  Roman  Empire  the  Provincial 
distribution  of  the  Church  was  merged  into  the  National. 
Bishops  and  Dioceses  in  every  nation  being  drawn  together  by 
the  [influence  of  national  affinity,  combined  for  the  common 
benefit,  and  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  Liturgical  Uniformity,  in 
forming  Churches  conterminous  in  jurisdiction  with  the  nations 
to  which  the}T  owed  temporal  allegiance. 

6.  It  was  with  the  element  of  Nationality  in  Churches  that 
the  Papacy  had  most  to  contend,  and  side  by  side  with  the 
suppression  of  this  principle  we  find  the  constant  growth  of 
Papal  usurpations  and  corruptions. 

7.  It  was  natural  therefore  that  the  Church  when  reformed 
should  resume  that  of  which  Pome  had  robbed  her;  and  the 
fact  is,  that  the  articles  and  canons  of  our  mother  Church  of 
England  show  her  to  be  intensely  National.  Her  Articles  of 
subscription  are  such  that  she  requires  her  Clergw  to  deny  the 
existence  in  any  foreigner  of  any  power  or  authority  ecclesiasti- 
cal or  spiritual  within  the  Realm  of  England,  or  any  of  her 
dependencies. 

8.  Hence  the  Clergy  of  the  United  States,  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, having  ceased  to  be  subjects  of  the  Crown,  ceased  likewise 
to  be  Clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  so  that  the  ecclesiastical 
Independence  of  the  Churches  in  the  Colonies  was,  of  necessity 
included  in  the  Independence  of  the  Colonies  themselves. 

9.  As  was  to  be  expected,  the  Churches  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Dioceses  into  which  they  were  distributed,  com 
bined  to  form  a  Church  as  strictly  National  as  that  of  England 
After  a  careful  study  of  her  Constitution  and  her  Canons, 
this  Committee  cannot  forbear  arriving  at  the  determinate  con- 
clusion that  they  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to  exclude  from  her 
any  Diocese  whose  territory  may  have  ceased  to  be  a  portion 
of  the  United  States. 

(a.)  Her  corporate  style  and  designation  is  such  as  clearly  to 
define  her  territorial  limits.     She   is  the  Protestant  Episcopal 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION.  19 

Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Her  boundaries  are 
those  of  the  United  States,  beyond  which  she  does  not  seek  to 
include  any  other  Churches  whatsoever. 

(b.)  By  the  Fifth  Article  of  her  Constitution,  the  implication 
involved  in  her  corporate  designation  is  defined  in  terms.  By 
that  Article,  the  admission  of  Dioceses  into  Union  with  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
is  limited  to  Dioceses  formed,  or  to  be  formed,  within  the  States 
or  Territories  of  that  country;  so  that  none  can  constitutionally 
be  admitted  which  do  not  lie  territorially  within  her  boundaries. 
It  is  evident  that  that  which  is  an  indispensable  condition  of 
admission  to  Union  with  her,  must  be  indispensable  to  con- 
tinuance in  that  Union.  Consequently,  when  the  State  in 
which  our  Diocese  is  situated  ceased  to  form  a  part  of  the 
United  States,  that  condition  failing  on  our  part,  we  ceased 
ipso  facto  to  retain  that  formal  union  with  her  of  which  terri- 
torial position  within  the  United  States  is  an  indispensable 
condition.  Had  the  Church  in  Louisiana,  Florida,  or  Texas, 
been  as  perfectly  formed  and  furnished  as  at  present,  they 
could  not,  previously  to  the  annexation  of  those  States  to  the 
United  States,  have  been  admitted,  under  this  Article,  to  Union 
with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States.  They 
ivere  admitted,  because,  at  the  time  of  their  application,  those 
States  lay  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States.  Having 
now  ceased  to  belong  to  the  United  States,  a  fair  construction  of 
the  Article  requires  us  to  hold  them  removed  beyond  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 

(c.)  But  had  any  doubt  been  possible,  under  Article  Fifth  of 
the  Constitution,  that  doubt  would  be  removed  by  the  express 
terms  of  Article  Tenth.  The  Confederate  States  of  America 
form  a  country  foreign  to  the  United  States,  and  on  failure  of 
the  Episcopate  in  any  of  these,  were  we  to  look  to  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  for  its  con- 
tinuance, the  facts  of  the  case  would  require  application  to  be 
made,  not  in  the  manner  heretofore  open  to  us,  but  as  is  required 
by  Article  Tenth  of  the  Constitution,  in  which  special  provision 
is   made   for    the    consecration    of  Bishops,    not   for   foreign 


20  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION. 

Churches,  but  for  foreign  Countries.  By  this  Article,  such 
Bishops,  so  consecrated,  would  not  be  eligible  to  the  office  of 
Diocesan  or  Assistant  Bishop  in  any  Diocese  of  the  United 
States,  nor  entitled  to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  nor 
could  they  lawfully  exercise  any  Episcopal  authority  in  those 
States.  In  other  words,  as  Bishops  of  a  foreign  country,  they 
could  not  be,  nor  become,  Bishops  of  the  UnitedStates — a  con- 
stitutional provision  evidently  reaching  to  Bishops  now  in  this 
position,  as  well  as  to  those  who  might  thus,  by  possibility,  be 
placed  in  it.  Our  Bishops  are  now  Bishops  of  a  country  for- 
eign to  the  United  States,  and  cannot,  therefore,  by  her  own 
provision,  any  longer  be  regarded  as  Bishops  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 

(d.)  If  anything  were  yet  wanting  to  confirm  the  view  that 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  is  must 
distinctively  and  strictly  National,  it  might  be  fully  supplied 
from  the  Canon  Law  of  the  Church  with  respect  to  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Missionary  Bishops.  (See  Title  I,  Canon  13,  Section 
7,  Clauses  1  and  5;  also  Section  8,  Clauses  1  and  2,  of  the 
same  Canon.)  The  Domestic  Missionary  Bishop,  whose  juris- 
diction lies  within  the  States  or  Territories  of  the  U.  S.,  is  en- 
titled to  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Bishops,  from  which  the  foreign 
Missionary  Bishop  is  excluded.  The  former,  moreover,  is  eligible 
to  the  Episcopate  of  a  vacant  Diocese  in  the  United  States  ;  the 
latter  is  ineligible,  but  with  the  consent  of  three-fourths  of  the 
Bishops,  Clergy,  and  Laity  of  the  Church  in  Convention 
assembled.  Thus,  of  two  Bishops  elected  and  consecrated  in 
the  same  way,  by  the  same  parties,  and  governed  by  Canons 
of  the  same  Convention,  the  one,  because  his  jurisdiction  lies 
within  the  United  States,  is  invested  with  the  right  of  voice 
and  vote  in  the  Convention  by  which  he  is  governed,  besides 
other  important  privileges,  from  which  the  other  is  excluded, 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  is  called  to  exercise  his  func- 
tions in  a  foreign  land. 

From  all  these  considerations,  and  others  too  numerous  to 
be  embraced  in  the  limits  of  this  report,  the  Committee  feel 
themselves  compelled  to    the  conclusion  that,    whereas,    the 


EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION.  21 

Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America 
is,  and  was,  rightly  intended  to  be  a  strictly  National  body, 
into  which  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  was  admitted,  because, 
at  the  time  of  her  admission,  the  State  of  Louisiana  formed  a 
portion  of  the  United  States;  and  whereas,  Louisiana  has  dis- 
solved the  Union  formerly  existing  between  her  and  the  United 
States,  and  so  separated  from  that  nation,  therefore,  the  Dio- 
cese of  Louisiana  has  ceased  to  belong  to  the  National  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
And  whereas,  the  State  of  Louisiana  has  entered  into  a  new 
Confederacy,  and  now  is  part  of  a  new  Nation,  therefore,  as 
the  highest  expediency  has,  from  very  early  times,  prompted 
such  confederations  among  adjacent  Dioceses  of  the  Catholic 
Church  as  might  advance  their  common  wellfare ;  and  as  nature 
and  experience,  no  less  than  the  highest  prudence,  teach  that 
such  Confederations  should  be  National,  like  that  in  the  United 
States,  therefore,  this  Diocese,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Committee, 
ought,  in  the  exercise  of  that  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath 
made  us  free,  to  take  such  steps  as  may  be  necessary  to  the 
formation  of  a  National  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
Confederate  States  of  America. 

It  is  needless,  after  what  has  been  previously  said,  that  the 
Committee  should  declare  that,  so  far  forth  as  Louisiana  is  con- 
cerned, the  Unity  of  the  Church  is  unbroken  ;  nor  need  the 
Committee  frame  new  words  to  express  the  never-failing  love 
which  every  member  of  this  Diocese  must  always  have  for  our 
brethren  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  We  prefer,  in 
this  connection,  to  adopt  the  words  of  our  Eight  Eeverend 
Father,  as  we  find  them  in  his  Pastoral  Letters.  They  repre- 
sent the  cherished  sentiments  of  every  churchman  in  the 
Diocese  : 

"It  is  our  happiness  to  know  that  in  canvassing  the  sum 
of  the  political  grievances  of  which  we  have  complained,  we 
find  no  contribution  made  to  it  by  brethren  of  our  own  house- 
hold. Our  Church  in  the  non-slaveholding  States,  as  every- 
where, has  been  loyal  to  the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  Her 
sound  conservative  teaching:  and  her  well-ordered  organization. 


22  EXTRACTS    FROM    THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION. 

have  held  her  steadily  to  her  proper  work,  and  she  has  confined 
herself  simply  to  preaching  and  teaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Surrounded  by  a  strong  pressure  on  every  side,  she  has  suc- 
cessfully resisted  its  power,  and  has  refused  to  lend  the  aid  of 
her  Conventions,  her  pulpits  and  her  presses  to  the  radical 
and  unscriptural  propagandism  which  has  so  degraded  Christ- 
ianity, and  plunged  our  country  into  its  unhappy  condition. 

"In  withdrawing  ourselves,  therefore,  from  all  political 
connection  with  the  Union  to  which  our  brethren  belong,  we  do  so 
with  hearts  filled  with  sorrow  at  the  prospect  of  its  forcing  a 
termination  of  our  ecclesiastical  connection  with  them  also, 
and  that  we  shall  bo  separated  from  those,  whose  intelligence, 
patriotism,  christian  integrity  and  piety,  we  have  long  known, 
and  for  whom  we  entertain  sincere  respect  and  affection. 

"Our  separation  from  our  brethren  of  'The  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States '  has  been  effected, 
because  we  must  follow  our  Nationality.  Not  because  there 
has  been  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  Christian  doctrine  or 
Catholic  usage.  Upon  these  points  we  are  still  one.  With  us, 
it  is  a  separation,  not  division,  certainly  not  alienation.  And 
there  is  no  reason  why,  if  we  should  find  the  union  of  our 
Dioceses  under  one  National  Church  impracticable,  we  should 
cease  to  feel  for  each  other  the  respect  and  regard  with  which 
purity  of  manners,  high  principle,  and  a  manly  devotion  to  truth, 
never  fail  to  inspire  generous  miuds." 

It  remains  then  only  that  the  Committee  should  present  this 
most  important  subject  for  the  action  of  Convention  in  the 
form  of  resolutions. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas,  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  is  and  was  rightly  intended  to  be  a  strictly 
National  body,  not  admitting  into  union  with  it  Dioceses  sit- 
uated in  foreign  countries  ; 

And  Whereas,  The  State  of  Louisiana  has  by  ordinance  dis- 
solved the  Union  formerly  existing  between  it  and  the  United 


23  EXTRACTS    FROM   THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION. 

States  of  America,    thereby  making  the    State  of  Louisiana 
foreign  to  the  United  States;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  has  ceased  to  be  a 
Diocese  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America. 

But  Whereas,  The  universal  experience  of  the  Catholic 
Church  has  from  a  very  early  time  shown  the  necessity  of  such 
local  combinations  among  Dioceses  as  might  advance  the  com- 
mon welfare, 

And  Whereas,  Reasons  of  the  highest  expediency  demand 
that  the  Church  should  in  this  respect  follow  the  Nationalities 
which  in  the  order  of  Divine  Providence  may  be  raised  up, 
therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Diocese  of  Louisiana  loyal  to  the  Doc- 
trine, Discipline  and  Example  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and 
closely  following  the  model  of  our  Mother  Church  of  England, 
and  our  Sister  Dioceses  in  the  United  States,  is  desirous  of 
entering  into  Union  with  the  remaining  Dioceses  of  the  Con- 
federate States  for  the  formation  of  a  National  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of  America. 

Resolved  further,  That  this  Convention  will  appoint  Delegates 
to  represent  the  Diocese  in  a  Convention  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  to  be 
held  at  Montgomery,  in  the  State  and  Diocese  of  Alabama,  on 
the  3d  day  of  July  next. 

All  which  is  respectfully  submitted, 

[Signed]  C.  S.  Hedges,  D.  D., 

W.  T.  Leacock,  D.  D. 
Dan'l  S.  Lewis,  D.  D., 
John  Fulton. 
George  S.  Guion. 
Henry  Johnson. 
Alex.  Montgomery. 
W.  J.  Lyle. 

On  motion  of  Dr.  J.  P.  Davidson,  the  Report  of  the  Conv 
mittee  was  received  ;  and  Convention  proceeded  to  the  con- 


24  EXTRACTS    FROM   THE    JOURNAL    OF    CONVENTION. 

sideration  of  the  Resolutions  therein  proposed  for  adoption. 
The  Resolutions  were  then,  on  motion  of  Rev.  John  Fulton, 
seconded  by  Dr.  Lyle,  severally  put,  and,  without  amendment, 
carried. 


Errata. — Page  G,  ninth  line  from  bottom,  for  '-propagandist  "  read  " propagandists."    On 
page  7,  ninth  line  from  top, for  "  Diocese"  read  "  Dioceses." 


